High fuel prices and traffic congestion have made motorcycles, and motorized scooters such as those commercially available from Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. under the trademark “Vespa®”, an increasingly common mode of transportation, not only for recreational purposes but for people commuting to and from their place of employment. While production vehicles of this type may include some amenities found in automobiles and other vehicles, such as a radio, they have no means of providing riders with ready access to items such as radar detectors, toll road transponders, global positioning devices (GPS), cellular telephones, cameras, change holders, garage door openers, personal digital assistants (PDA) and other portable devices.
This deficiency of production motorcycles and scooters has been addressed by aftermarket mounting devices that may be secured to different parts of the vehicle. These include handlebar mounts, control mounts, stem mounts, fairing mounts, mirror mounts and different specialty mounts. In each case, the mount generally comprises a vehicle mounting element designed to attach to a part of the vehicle, a lower pivot coupled to the vehicle mounting element, a device mounting plate designed to support a number of different portable devices, an upper pivot coupled to the device mounting plate, and, a shaft extending between the upper and lower pivots. The mount is connected to the vehicle and a portable device such as a GPS is secured to the device mounting plate, at which time the position of the GPS may be adjusted by manipulation of one or both of the upper and lower pivots to the satisfaction of the rider. This arrangement allows the cyclist ready access to and/or viewing of a given portable device, and reduces potentially dangerous situations wherein the rider must reach into a pocket of his or her clothing, or a storage area of the vehicle, to access a particular device while riding.
Most vehicle mount designs employ a threaded connection between the vehicle mounting element and lower pivot, and between the device mounting plate and upper pivot, in order to secure them in a fixed position. Typically, a bolt or other threaded fastener is extended between such elements and tightened down to maintain the portable device in position during use. This arrangement is less than desirable in several respects. Because vehicle mounts of this type are aftermarket items, they are usually installed by the owner of the vehicle. Although installation is not difficult, it can be done improperly such as by failing to adequately tighten the bolts or other fasteners. Further, threaded connections between the vehicle mounting element and lower pivot, and/or between the device mounting plate and upper pivot, can loosen over time given the vibration and jarring of the vehicle that takes place when riding. In either case, if such connections become loose the vehicle mount can pivot to an undesirable position and distract the rider potentially leading to injury.
Another potential problem with threaded connections of the type utilized in conventional aftermarket vehicle mounts involves the performance of the mount in the event of an accident. It has been found that the application of a sufficient force to a vehicle mount, such as resulting from an impact during an accident, can cause the portable device secured to the device mounting plate or the entire mount itself to literally fly off of the location where it is mounted to the motorcycle. A heavier item such as a GPS can effectively become a missile under these circumstances and cause injury to the rider or to others in the vicinity of the accident.